Overwork
by Koibitotedare
Summary: Iwaizumi didn't consider himself to be a naïve person by any means, at least, not when it came to certain people in his life. Yet, as he glared at the glowing green numbers on his alarm clock he knew he should have expected the empty space next to him. He should never have thought that he could simply roll over to his other side and wrap his arms around the sturdy body of Oikawa.


Iwaizumi didn't consider himself to be a naïve person by any means, at least, not when it came to certain people in his life. Yet, as he glared at the glowing green numbers on his alarm clock he knew he should have expected the empty space next to him. He should never have thought that he could simply roll over to his other side and wrap his arms around the sturdy body of Oikawa. In fact, he should have known hours ago when Oikawa said he would actually go to bed that he would only catch air as he tried to touch the body that was not next to him. It should have been obvious to him, a non-naïve person, that no amount of being hopeful or thinking that maybe, _just maybe,_ this time Oikawa was serious about only being five more minutes. He should have known better. He _did_ know better.

Nevertheless, there he was struggling to drag his exhausted body into a sitting position at three in the goddamn morning because he had to do damage control. Sitting up made his head spin with exhaustion and while he really wasn't that old, he certainly felt like he was. He groaned as he dragged his hands over his stubbly face. He would kill for the days where they only worried about volleyball and how to beat the ever elusive ' _Ushiwaka Japan_.' Instead they were stuck with work deadlines and useless college degrees that made him want to curl up under the covers and pretend that he was a high school student again. Alas, Iwaizumi couldn't escape reality and he would be damned to let that overworking moron of his suffer any longer.

Still, pulling his legs out from the covers and bending his knees over the side of the bed, thus leaving them at the mercy of the cold air was no small task. Standing made his joints pop and he felt old again; stumbling over the stray kneepads, loose clothing, and occasional magazines reminded him that he wasn't. He kept one hand out in front of him walking slowly enough to be able to feel the wall before he ran into it. It was a new moon and his eyes were adjusted but not well enough to see with the light blocking curtains tightly shut over the window. The doorknob was hidden behind the coats hung on the peg screwed into the wood, he brushed them aside and ran his fingers down the length of the polished wood of the door. His fingers bumped over the smooth brass of the doorknob and he pulled it down, opening the door in one fluid motion.

Sudden light blinded him and stung his eyes making him throw up an arm in automatic defense. He grunted his dissatisfaction and continued through the living area to the kitchen. He had to step around, or accidentally on, many other loose items on the floor as neither he nor Oikawa tended to clean during clutch week. There was too much to do. Iwaizumi himself had a huge project to do for his boss. He had a good team but they had to push the boundaries of the work day quite a bit if they were going to get all the work done that they needed to do. With the stress of needing to perform well as team leader, something as mundane as cleaning just wasn't a focus. It honestly wasn't important when they were both swamped with team meetings, proposals, business meetings, and team leader responsibilities. Being an adult with an actual functioning job sucked.

However, he began to reconsider his neglect of cleaning once he stepped into the threshold of the kitchen. Iwaizumi wasn't sure if they had left something out and it had gone rotten or if something had crawled into their kitchen and _died_ but the smell was enough to make him step backwards into the living room. Oikawa had vanilla wax melts over a candle and the smell wasn't masking the odor but merely mingling with it, making it hang heavily in the air and cause upset stomach to anyone who was miserable enough to have the scent forced upon them. Honestly at this point he just hoped the dead smell wasn't coming from Oikawa and something actually _had_ died in their kitchen.

Oikawa was hunched over his work laptop typing away with bony fingers and flipping through stray pieces of paper that were scattered about the table. It was the same position he had been in over the weekend and the same position Iwaizumi had left him in four hours ago when Oikawa promised him that he would get ready for bed in _just_ five minutes. Only this time his cup of cold untouched tea was accompanied by a plate of cold untouched dinner and one half drank cup of coffee. A quick glance to the coffee maker showed that there was still half a pot left and he'd actually have a chance at getting Oikawa to bed without having to worry about him being kept awake by caffeine induced alertness.

Iwaizumi leaned against the wall to watch Oikawa, to figure out what the most effective method to getting the brunet to bed was. It was all based off of Oikawa's current mood, how stressed he was, what kind of pressure he was feeling, and his own mental perception of himself. It was usually reflected in how Oikawa worked, small clues about how he moved his hands or if he mumbled his words together. They all meant little things that added up to how to handle him. One misread and Oikawa could end up winning whatever argument was to come.

He watched Oikawa bend over, spine popping, to look through pieces of paper that were scattered upon the floor. He brushed some aside before finally finding what he wanted with a small sniff and a huff of air. His fingers started clacking away heavily at the keys on his laptop, the sound made Iwaizumi's ears hurt and he knew Oikawa was annoyed at whatever he was working on. However that wasn't the worst case scenario. At this point Iwaizumi could use small persuasions and could minimally manhandle Oikawa to bed. He was about to step forward and do so when the frustrated mumbling started. He was ten minutes too late. Once this started there were no small words, no actions that could persuade Oikawa to take a break and start again in the morning. Only two options of either letting Oikawa burn himself out and pull an all nighter followed by work in the morning where no one would want to be around him or he could fully manhandle Oikawa to bed and everyone at the office could have a slightly better day. Since Iwaizumi himself was a person at the office and Oikawa's roommate, option one was a no go.

"Hey," he yelled, voice echoing throughout the near silent work space making Oikawa jump and spill more papers onto the floor. The jerking of his dominate arm nearly hit the full mug of cold tea but they were both lucky enough that it didn't tip over and spill.

"You scared me Iwa-chan," Oikawa huffed as he turned to frown at Iwaizumi. His eyes were outlined by dark circles which had become more prominent with each passing all-nighter. Was this his third? Iwaizumi wasn't sure anymore. He did recognize the shaking of Oikawa's hands as frustrated anxiety rather than the anger he had been showing in his hunched shoulders and mumbled words though, "I'm almost done. Go back to sleep I'll be-."

"-If you say you'll be there in five minutes I'll punch you," Iwaizumi lied. He didn't have the energy to injury Oikawa. He just wanted them both to rest up for their workday tomorrow. It would be a busy Monday.

"Sure," Oikawa snorted fully recognizing the lie, "but I will be there soon, okay? This just isn't good enough yet."

"Bed," Iwaizumi demanded. He wanted to reassure Oikawa that he could make it better in the morning. He could work on it with his team and get over those road blocks that were tripping up his sleep deprived mind but he knew better than that. This irrationally irritated Oikawa wouldn't take those words well and he would easily talk his way out of it. Even an exhausted Oikawa could give a tongue lashing to keep doing what he wanted.

"Five minutes," Oikawa reiterated as he picked up some of the fallen papers he had been working with.

Iwaizumi frowned but moved to help Oikawa pick up the papers. He stacked them neatly making sure they were all facing the same way and none of them were upside down. He added the papers on the table to the pile and ignored Oikawa's suspicious look as he set them down on the surface of the wood table. He gathered up the plate of food, unable to tell if it was the source of the awful smell or not, and dumped it. It wouldn't be good anymore regardless of its fault in the stench. While Oikawa suspiciously went back to hacking away at his keyboard, Iwaizumi gathered up the two mugs of liquid and dumped them before putting them in the sink with the plate; he would wash them in the morning. Next he opened their junk drawer, a drawer designated for miscellaneous items they found, and dug out a large binder clip. He gathered the papers again, easing the ones that Oikawa was using away from him while he angrily tapped away on his keyboard and clipped them together.

"Hey-wait! Iwa-chan I still need those!" Oikawa yelped when he noticed they were gone.

"Bed. Now." Iwaizumi said firmly as he slapped the packet of papers down with a loud _thwack_.

"I _told_ you, it's not good enough yet," Oikawa huffed, "I need to fix it up first."

Frustration shook Oikawa's limbs and voice as he silently demanded his papers back while trying to justify his actions. His exhaustion filled eyes glimmered with Oikawa's own brand of self-depreciation and his sagging mouth made him appear as old as Iwaizumi had felt getting out of bed. Iwaizumi crossed his arms and gave the other a firm look; Oikawa wouldn't want to hear any of those thoughts so he said nothing. If he hadn't of been as frustrated as he were then Iwaizumi could have used the observations as motivation to get Oikawa to bed. Now it would only result in exhaustion induced violence.

"I didn't ask," Iwaizumi shrugged when the silence had dragged on for too long, "all I said was you need to get your ass to bed."

"Well I'm _not_ going to bed because I have a lot left to do and _you're_ being a big baby about me working. So stop bothering me and just go back to bed already," Oikawa snapped as he tried to reach for his papers but Iwaizumi snatched them out of the way, "What are you Iwa-chan, my _boss_? You don't get to order me around, idiot, you'll never be that high up on the food chain."

Iwaizumi recognized the bite in the words as Oikawa's self-frustration and not an actual reflection of his thoughts about Iwaizumi. That was an even bigger indication that Oikawa needed a break, he was only human after all. Oikawa had problems with knowing when he needed to take a step back and when it was okay to plow through a night without sleeping. The line to him was too blurred too out of focus just as it always had been. He had never understood when he had crossed it, not even when he had busted his knee. Or perhaps he did and he just didn't care. Either way Oikawa was absolute shit at pacing himself, always overworking and lousy at break taking. Iwaizumi didn't know anyone else that could inhale lunch in five minutes and go back to work like it was no big deal. He knew Oikawa often fretted over getting things in perfect order or as damn near perfect as he could get. Then, if he didn't achieve his own idea of perfect he spiraled down into a sea of self-depreciation and marathons of alien movies so he could try to snuff out the failure. It never worked. He couldn't pace himself, he couldn't figure out how to let his body rest, and so Iwaizumi would just do it for him.

"You have two more days to work on it," Iwaizumi stated. There was still so much time left. Iwaizumi was certain the rest of Oikawa's team could barely keep up with him, if they could at all. For their sake and his own, Oikawa really should just focus on resting and checking in with the rest of his team. Knowing the former setter though, he would only fret about how he could be working on his project. Well, Iwaizumi was the same so he guessed he couldn't really say much about that.

He moved next to Oikawa and swatted the others hands away from the keyboard and he began to save the documents, presentations, and articles that Oikawa had been writing. He ignored Oikawa's squawking and physical pushes at his arms and torso as he bookmarked the websites Oikawa had open. He made sure that everything open was archived properly before closing all tabs.

" _Hajime_!" Oikawa screeched in anger, voice breaking on the first syllable, " _stop messing with my stuff_!"

Oikawa was standing now and trying to keep Iwaizumi from closing the lid on his laptop. His muscles were tense with frustration and his limbs shaking with exhaustion and raw emotion. His motions were jerky and uncoordinated and Iwaizumi knew he was only a few seconds away from getting hit so he pushed Oikawa in the center of his chest. Hard enough to push him back down into his chair but not enough to actually hurt him. The small shock it caused Oikawa gave Iwaizumi enough time to close the lid of the laptop and push it across the table to rest next to the papers.

Then Oikawa was standing with every ounce of demanding presence that came with being a former volleyball captain. His eyes were narrowed towards Iwaizumi and his hands were balled into fists at his side. His wide set shoulders were squared and properly intimidating but Iwaizumi felt only the clenching of his heart that came with the big pout on Oikawa's face. It tended to ruin the imposing aura he was trying to create but the biggest contrast was the quivering of that pout and the shiny glimmer in his eyes. Iwaizumi could see the aggravation induced waterworks before they started. Still he watched as Oikawa's whole body started to quiver before he had to bite down on his lower lip in a vain effort to keep it still. Iwaizumi's heart squeezed again; it was always hard to watch Oikawa cry even if it were from things such as stress and sleep deprivation. He knew he shouldn't try to comfort Oikawa, he shouldn't reach out, he definitely shouldn't try and touch; but it was habit. His hand was promptly swiped out of the air, the sound of the smack still in the air when Oikawa sucked in a watery breath.

"Don't _touch_ me!" Oikawa's voice cracked and fat tears rolled out of his red eyes and down his cheeks. A sob shook his frame and Iwaizumi returned his hand to his side as Oikawa worked past the block in his throat, "You just don't _get_ it, Hajime! This isn't just a fun hobby or for shits and giggles, okay! This is something that I have to do to represent _myself_ at a board meeting with our _bosses_ , our _competitors,_ and _our future employees_! It has to be _perfect_ and right now it's a pile of _shit_! It's not good enough!"

Iwaizumi wanted to tell him that it would all be okay in the end because Oikawa always put out the best work and that he wasn't alone in this. He wanted to tell him that there was still time and that Oikawa tended to stress too much when it came to these things, but Iwaizumi knew none of it would stick. It would only fuel the rage Oikawa was falling into. He would call lies and slander at Iwaizumi's words as he had already fallen into a self-depreciating mode. So Iwaizumi held his tongue and he let Oikawa yell and vent. He said nothing when the other called him an undedicated incompetent worker, he didn't even blink when Oikawa told him he didn't deserve to be team leader because he knew Oikawa was projecting. He had done it enough in the past. He would do it in the future and Iwaizumi, curse him, would always forgive him because he knew that those were things Oikawa thought about himself. He let Oikawa scream himself hoarse, until he knew there would be complaints from the neighbors the next day but at least Oikawa will have vented. Iwaizumi could always make those gift baskets his neighbors liked. They usually forgave them if he included chocolates and and a nice card.

"It's just not good enough right now, Iwa-chan!" Oikawa was fully sobbing now. He was still an unsightly crier, snot dripping from his nose, fat tears sliding down his face to drip off his chin onto his shirt, and red cheeks irritated by the salt in his tears. He always scrunched his eyebrows together too far and pinched his lips together so tightly that his chin dimpled and when he was forced to let out a hard sob through those pinched lips he always drooled. Iwaizumi didn't mind, he didn't focus solely on those aspects, instead he watched the tension ease from Oikawa's muscles, he watched the stress and aggravation of all-nighters and lack of proper-self care be expressed, "I can't figure it out okay! I don't know what's wrong with it! Something's missing! Something's not _good enough_!"

The brunettes voice hiccupped and seized his chest making him grasp the back of the chair in front of him to give him something to ground himself on. Iwaizumi waited patiently, quietly, and faithfully as Oikawa was overcome with hard sobs that shook his body and no doubt made his throat hurt. Maybe he should have warmed that tea up instead of tossing it. Oikawa drew in a loud breath through his nose, trying pathetically to sniff up the oozing snot from his nostrils. It of course failed and he was left with shuddering breaths and hard tears.

"I don't-," Oikawa's voice was soft now, broken, "Why aren't _I_ good enough, Iwa-chan?"

Oikawa's voice crackled and Iwaizumi had to stop himself from moving too soon. He waited until Oikawa pressed the back of his hand to his eyes and held out his other hand in Iwaizumi's direction, his cue to move in. He moved around the chair and pulled Oikawa against his chest and held him there, ignoring the snot on his favorite night shirt and the drool soaking through the fabric. He only pressed his hand against the back of Oikawa's head as the other's sobs returned full force and he dug his fingers into the fabric of Iwaizumi's shirt. He pressed his cheek against the top of Oikawa's head and ignored the bite of nails on his shoulders where Oikawa's fingers had gained strength.

Oikawa's body shook against him with the intensity of his sobbing so Iwaizumi moved a hand down to rest on the small of Oikawa's back to ground him. Something to make him feel a little safer, a little more protected than the vulnerability Iwaizumi was certain he was feeling. He ran his fingers through the neglected swirls of Oikawa's greasy hair and he worried his lip between his teeth. How long had Oikawa been feeling the intensity of this project? It wasn't like him to neglect his physical appearance and while Iwaizumi assumed it meant that Oikawa was under more pressure than usual it made him question how preoccupied he himself had been. He hadn't even noticed. He couldn't wait to be done with this project.

He tried not to think about it as he quietly murmured out a sound of comfort between his teeth and threaded his fingers through Oikawa's hair again. He stood patiently as Oikawa's sobs began to die down into heavy sniffling and shaking. He readjusted his hand on Oikawa's back to be a little bit higher so he could feel the exact moment that the heavy shaking turned into small tremors and the sniffling turned into loud breathing that hitched every other time he breathed in. It was the moment that Oikawa was typically the most vulnerable. The moment when Iwaizumi was allowed to pull him away from his work with soft words and rare tenderness.

"C'mon Tooru," Iwaizumi persuaded softly as he moved his hand to be at Oikawa's hip rather than his back, "let's get you cleaned up."

He tried to pull Oikawa with him by putting pressure on his hip but Oikawa didn't budge. He only released his tight grip on Iwaizumi's shirt and took a step back; pressing his hand to his face and trying to wipe away his snot and drool. Apparently Oikawa was going for blindly stubborn tonight. He sniffed again and brought his other hand up to wipe at his face.

"I really _have_ to work on this tonight," his voice was hoarse and raw as he spoke.

He really didn't have to.

"Tooru, _hey_ listen," Iwaizumi ducked down a little to get within Oikawa's line of sight before he tipped the other's chin up with his finger, "You've got _time_. Okay?"

"It's not enough," Oikawa protested, but he wasn't moving away from Iwaizumi or trying to dislodge his finger; a good sign.

"It is enough. Besides don't you think you're moving a little too far ahead of your group? They can't work like you do, you're killing them, _captain_ ," Iwaizumi pressed working hard to maintain eye contact by dipping his head further and trying to push up Oikawa's declining chin with his finger.

Sometimes reminding Oikawa that he did in fact at one point in his life lead a group of people towards one goal helped to ground him again. Certainly enough, his cheeks were reddening and he was glancing off to the side whether he was ashamed of over-pacing his team or embarrassed at being called captain after so many years, Iwaizumi wasn't sure. All he knew was that it was effective because Oikawa was pouting again and trying to be mad at him and failing.

"'M not a captain anymore," Oikawa mumbled.

"Not with that attitude," Iwaizumi commented, "C'mon, let the team catch up while you get some shut eye."

"…but," Oikawa glanced to his laptop and Iwaizumi straightened his spine and slid his arm around Oikawa's shoulders.

"No more buts, Tooru," Iwaizumi said firmly as he pulled Oikawa from the kitchen, turning out the light as he went. It seemed as if Oikawa was going to protest but then he fell in step with Iwaizumi and leaned his head on the other's shoulder before nodding quietly.

Iwaizumi led him around the various obstacles that they really did need to pick up, through their doorway, and into the bathroom connected to their room. He turned on the low light, trying to save both of their over tired eyes from anything too bright as he turned on the warm water and grabbed a washcloth giving it to Oikawa so he could clean off his face. He fished around the baskets on the shelves for Oikawa's preferred headband, the one he used when he felt like his hair was too gross to be on display so he kept it back for the night. It was buried back underneath a pile of cotton swabs and face towels instead of in its proper headband basket. By the time he found it, Oikawa had finished cleaning his face and had brushed his teeth.

"Here," Iwaizumi offered the headband and Oikawa took it with a nod of thanks.

"Maybe I should shower now," Oikawa sighed.

"Just do it in the morning," Iwaizumi said as he wrapped his arms around Oikawa's waist and lied his chin on the other's shoulder, "You should get as much sleep as you can now." He kissed the side of Oikawa's throat twice.

"Your words and your actions are contradictory, Iwa-chan," Oikawa said softly as he stared Iwaizumi down in their reflection.

"Shut up," Iwaizumi huffed as he pulled away from Oikawa, "Change your shirt it's disgusting."

"Mean, Iwa-chan! I just cried my _soul_ out!"

"Yeah well it stained both of our shirts so do something about it," Iwaizumi shrugged as he left the bathroom to change his own snot and drool soaked shirt. He tossed a clean one to Oikawa when he came out of the bathroom. The brunette caught it and pulled off his dirty one changing quickly.

"…I feel a little better," Oikawa started, "maybe I should just-,"

"-no," Iwaizumi said stubbornly as he pulled Oikawa by the arm to the side of the bed where he pushed him firmly. Oikawa's knees buckled and he collapsed onto the bed.

"There's still time-,"

"-to do it tomorrow at work, where you'll get paid to do it," Iwaizumi said as pushed Oikawa's shoulders down until they touched the bed. He climbed over Oikawa and pulled the other to be pressed against him, hooking one leg over both of Oikawa's and tucking his arm around Oikawa's back; pinning him in place.

Oikawa mumbled an excuse but it was overrun with a yawn and sleepy nonsense. Iwaizumi risked releasing Oikawa's upper half so he could grab the covers to pull them up to his chin. As Oikawa's face was currently at his chin, half of his face got covered by the blanket but he didn't seem to mind. Iwaizumi watched his eyelids grow heavy and his mumbled protested slurred together into one long breath before his eyes closed fully and he snuggled into Iwaizumi's chest, pressing his face into the other's neck.

"S'rry, wa-ch'n," Oikawa slurred quietly, breath ghosting against Iwaizumi's neck. He wasn't entirely certain what Oikawa was apologizing for but he had a feeling it was due to his melt down and the mean things he had said to Iwaizumi.

"Tooru," Iwaizumi called softly, "You listening?" He asked after Oikawa was silent. He pushed the blankets down to be tucked under Oikawa's chin.

"Mmmm," a long drawn out sleepy noise.

"Hey, you _are_ good enough," he whispered before pressing a kiss to Oikawa's temple. He watched Oikawa struggle to open his eyes, just a sliver, and the faintest smile graced his lips. Iwaizumi was certain that Oikawa didn't believe the words, it wasn't like him, but he still liked to hear them.

Besides maybe someday if Iwaizumi said them enough, Oikawa would start to believe him.


End file.
